The Women in Prison exploitation sub-genre, like many others, found its way to Japan in the '70s, resulting in probably the most well made prisonsploitation series of films to ever grace the screen. It's the Female Prisoner Scorpion series, a pinky violence extravaganza starring the badass Meiko Kaji as the stoic vengeful lady who can't keep herself from getting imprisoned. Kaji signed with the Toei studio in order to avoid having to do pinku films for Nikkatsu, but in this film she nevertheless appears naked, while her character suffers some heavy abuse so I imagine filming some of these scenes must have been a bit stressful.This is essentially a revenge tale peppered with gore, heavy nudity and some almost surreal moments which showcase the high production value this film had going for it. All kinds of weird colors and gruesome deaths find their way into this film, with Meiko Kaji's awesome theme song "Urami bushi" playing on top of it all. This is a highly imaginative and entertaining WiP film and one of the best Japanese exploitation films.

I've seen a handful of women in prison films and before seeing this one, hadn't seen a really good one. It's a genre closely associated with lesbian sex, torture and general sleaze and is one of the staples of the oeuvres of Italian trash directors such as Jess Franco and Joe D'Amato. Female Convict Scorpion adheres to the trends of the genre, but it does it with so much more class than the majority of genre offerings and the result is a film that transcends its trash origins into masterpiece territory. Female Convict Scorpion excellently straddles the boundary between the two types of film - its trash shot as art! Like most women in prison films, this one focuses on one particular prisoner inside a women's prison. The prisoner is Nami Matsushima, a woman betrayed by her boyfriend (a police officer with mob ties) and wrongly imprisoned. She wants revenge on the man who put her in jail, and since she knows a lot of his secrets; he wants her dead. The policeman/mobster soon decides to have one of the other prisoners arrange an "accident" for Nami Matsushima...The film starts as it means to go on; first we get a prison break that sees two prisoners hunted down and caught by the ruthless prison guards, and the next scene sees a bunch of naked women being directed about by said prison guards. There is not as much sleaze in this film as there is in my other women in prison flicks, but there's more than enough - and the fact that it doesn't go over the top means that the sleaze we do get is far more potent. The film is also rather gory, and although much of the violence is in a comic book style, seeing the blood spill is still a treat. The film features some stunning cinematography, and director Shunya Ito is obviously keen to get the art-house style across as much as possible. There's also several excellently shot sequences; the scene involving a disgruntled inmate rampaging through the showers with a shard of glass being particularly excellent. It's all topped off by a sensational performance by Meiko Kaji in the lead role, and overall; it has to be said that Female Convict Scorpion is a masterpiece that does not deserve to be missed!

Uttering as few words as possible, Nami Matsushima (played by the stunningly beautiful Meiko Kaji) dispenses with the pleasantries and builds a reasonably impressive body count by the end of "Female Prisoner 701: Scorpion," one of the premiere films in the women's prison genre of films.Natsuyagi is a cop looking to move ahead in his life, and money, after all, is the root of all evil. He hatches a scheme to use his lovely girlfriend, Nami, to lure the local mafia bosses into a scheme. But when the gang feels something's amiss, they escort Nami into a back room and rape her. Breaking in, Natsuyagi realizes he finally has what he wants: ignoring his fallen girlfriend, he convinces the mob that he can make all of their problems go away if they pay him off. They agree, and Natsuyagi has Nami thrown into prison … where she undergoes the obligatory beatings, teasing, and other forms of degradation so common to 'girls behind bars' films.What makes "Scorpion" different is the fact that Director Shunya Ito – in his debut film – decided to ride the fine line between art and trash. He combines the best elements of the vindictive woman's feature along with artsy lighting in order to achieve the effect of a car crash: the viewer really hates to slow down and watch, but there really must be something to see here, right? The violence is gratuitous, if not psychedelic, at times, but it all manages to flesh out (pun intended) before Nami manages to finally break out of prison and go on her murderous rampage, taking out the mobsters one-by-one until her final showdown with the unsuspecting Natsuyagi.Also, in Kaji's graceful hands, Nami isn't so much a victim as she is an antihero, not at all unlike Clint Eastwood in Sergio Leone's spaghetti westerns. The viewer is pulled into this world by means of a very beautiful woman who refuses to be a 'prisoner' to the genre. Instead, she's defiant and calculating at every turn, refusing to comply with the warden's demands of good behavior. She challenges every authority, instituting her own code of justice which applies to everyone: her fellow inmates, the prison guards, and even the police outside. Uncompromising in her dedication, she ignores the acts she endures for the sake of focusing on one sole objective: revenge.… and that's an act she takes with complete seriousness.

Violent, sick, cruel, and completely sadistic – what more could I ask for? Starring Meiko Kaji, who would go on to the Lady Snowblood films the next year, this women in prison movie simply dazzles. Ito's direction is fantastic, and in some ways resembles that of Suzuki Seijun. It's funny that such great filmmaking is found in a w.i.p. movie, a sub-genre usually reserved for sloppy, direct-to-video work today. Just think, a direct-to-video movie really could be well made. There is an unfulfilled market here. Yet people just keep cranking out the same cliched garbage – an utter waste. The genre in America is too tame when you look at FP701. Actually, I'd almost say that this comes close to being the best prison movie ever made, approaching masterpieces like Don Siegel's undervalued Riot in Cell-Block 11 and Stuart Rosenberg's beloved Cool Hand Luke. Hell, Prisoner 701 makes Cool Hand Luke look like a total pussy. This movie is an absolute must-see for those who love Japanese films, exploitation, or cult movies in general. I'd go so far as to call it a masterpiece in its own way. I loved every damn second of it! 10/10.